 Frank lloyd Wright and his influence on modern architecture
The author of this book, Ada Louise Huxtable, is a well known architectural historian, critic, and journalist.
This book is a compact review of modern architecture that features a superficial portrait of FLW - his life, philosophy, theories and personality - and his influence on architecture, internationally. There are about ten poorly reproduced black and white photographs that provide inadequate illustration of the FLW style and work.
This short treatment is not intended to be a serious or technical study of the great architect's work. There are other biographies and volumes for that. Huxtable handles skillfully the balance between an almost prurient coverage of the details of FLW's always erratic and sometimes tragic life with the history and analysis of the man and his work. This book is definitely a popularization of a
big subject and as such appears to be be intended for the neophyte or casual reader.
 The most content in the fewest words
Books about Mr. Wright, especially those that delve into his personal life, tend to grow like kudzu. Their authors start out intending to present a coherent, concise picture of the man, but they find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, controversy, and innuendo that swirls about him even today. Too many authors abandon any pretense of order and just splash it all down on paper, leaving the reader to hack through the resulting jungle alone.
Ms. Huxtable's admirable book is the first Wright biography I've seen that resists the temptatation to make the reader do all the work. She tells more about Mr. Wright and about his important buildings in fewer words than any other author. Of course there are errors here and there--most of the principals are long dead, and who can reconstruct a conversation that took place eighty years ago with any accuracy? All Wright biographers, except the syncophants associated with the Taliesin Fellowship, disagree on various points. One must also remember that the Fellowship's mythmaking apparatus started up shortly after the Fellowship began, and went into overdrive after Mr. Wright's passing in 1959, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction. Having to see through this smothering blanket of hagiography makes Ms. Huxtable's accomplishment all the more remarkable.
Even those who think they know all about Frank Lloyd Wright may learn a thing or two from this book, and it would be hard to imagine a better introductory book for those who know they do not.
So Much that is Wright
There is so much that is right about this handy and elegant little biographical volume that anyone who wants to know about Frank Lloyd Wright would find themselves in good company with the brilliant Ms. Huxtable. It is an excellent starting point and may be all that the general reader will need to satisfy a level of interest in the great American architect. Or it may send the reader looking for more--and with all that has been and is being written about Frank Lloyd Wright, that could easily become a lifelong quest.
For those who do not have that kind of time to give the subject, trust Ada Louise Huxtable. She knows architecture (her skyscraper book is a classic) and her appreciation of the impact and influence of Frank Lloyd Wright comes through on every page. So does her awareness that the same genius that made such serene spaces also led a wildly tempestuous life. Her prose is spare and crisp. Her insights are keen.
Having read this book, the reader wanting more about Frank Lloyd Wright would perhaps want to read Brendan Gill's "Many Masks" and Meryle Secrest's bio of the great architect, too.
It is interesting that in another review of this book, on this site, "Ehringer" (AKA Keiran Murphy, the historian of Taliesin Preservation, Inc.), chooses to pick apart the book due to some minor points in what is otherwise a fine account by a recognized expert in the field. How sad.
Do not let those quibbles prevent you from reading it.
Very interesting biography on Frank LLoyd Wright
Heather Carolyn Riehl holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Textile Design from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York and is currently seeking her Master's degree from Edinboro University in Edinboro, Pennsylvania.
Frank Lloyd Wright, a biography by award winning architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable is a very insightful novel about a man who made such an impact on the art of architecture during his lifetime. Huxtable focuses both on the life of Frank Lloyd Wright both personally and professionally. Although it seems at times to steer more towards a personal biography, it is essential to understand Wright's background and beliefs to truly appreciate him as the artist that he was.
Huxtable takes us all the way through Wright's life, from birth to death. She briefly touches on the impact that Wright's architecture had following his death as well as some unfortunate family matters concerning the placement of his remains.
Frank Lloyd Wright is depicted in this biography as somewhat of a rebel. He lived by his own rules and detested establishment. It may be fair to say that Wright was somewhat of an egotist, but had he not possessed the confidence that he did, it may not have been possible for him to think outside of the box as often as he did. It was his ambition to create his own style that made him stand out from the rest, and no one was able to get in his way from doing so.
Huxtable explains how Frank Lloyd Wright was influenced by Japanese art and the philosophies of Viollet-le-duc. Sculpture reproductions of the Winged Victory and Venus de Milo were often used in his interiors. Wright was a very intellectual, knowledgeable man although he had no formal training in architecture.
Being involved with several different women, marrying three of them in his lifetime, it would appear that women were very important in Wright's life. Conceiving six children in his first marriage and two in his third, one might see Wright as a veritable family man although this assumption could not be further from the truth. No matter what was happening in Wright's family life, his architecture always took precedence.
Huxtable examines several of Wright's architectural triumphs, including his many prairie homes which lead to a domestic revolution in the Midwest, Fallingwater which was built for the Kaufmann family in Pennsylvania, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and his two Taliesin estates, one of which endured a murder rampage and three tragic fires.
Frank Lloyd Wright comes across in this biography as a beatnik architect, if there ever was such a thing. Being educated on the subject of architecture, unexplained references to such people as Mies Van Der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Frank Gehry; I was able to understand the passages, where as a reader completely uneducated on the topic may be confused by some topics in this novel. Subsequently, I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in art or architecture as it is a very interesting look into the life of this magnificent architect.
Excellent intro to Frank Lloyd Wright
A briskly written, concise biography of Frank Lloyd Wright that manages to be very even-handed about both his enormous talent and his nearly-as-enormous ego. It's not a thorough study of his life and work (I particularly thought it was skimpy on Wright's later projects; for that reason, I'd probably give it only 4.5 stars if Amazon allowed half-star rating increments), but it is an excellent, quick-read introduction to an incredible architect.
|
